April Update from Great Schools Partnership

Great Schools Partnership

April 2011 Update

The mission of the Great Schools Partnership is to serve as a catalyst, think tank,

incubator and start-up funder for making Knox County Schools globally competitive.

If you are receiving this update, you are a member of the Great Schools Partnership and its efforts to take the Knox County School System from good to great! Help us by forwarding this email to your friends and colleagues and ask them to also join our organization. At the bottom of this email, there is the ability to forward this update -- we hope you will do so!

10 Outstanding Knox County Elementary Principals Honored

On April 14, the Great Schools Partnership hosted a reception to honor 10 top elementary school principals from the Knox County School System. The reception, held at the Square Room, was attended by over 300 elementary school staff members, community leaders and family members.

This is the first year that the Great Schools Partnership has hosted a principals' award ceremony which is expected to become an annual event. At the reception, the ten elementary school principals with the top value-added scores were recognized. Value-added data measures student academic growth within a grade and subject which, in turn, measures the influence the school has on student learning.

Governor Bill Haslam opened the awards ceremony by congratulating each of this year's honorees and, then, introducing his new Commissioner of Education, Kevin Huffman. This year's recipients were Susan Turner, A.L. Lotts principal; Julie Thompson, Carter principal; Terry Frost, Copper Ridge principal; Lisa Light, Londsdale principal; Roy Miller; Mooreland Heights principal; Beth Lackey, Norwood principal; Christy Dowell, Ritta principal; Cory Smith, Rocky Hill principal; Dr. Joy Foster, Shannondale principal; and Muncie Harbin, South Knoxville principal.

"Great principals create great schools. It's that simple," said GSP President Buzz Thomas. "And while each of these honorees credits teachers and parents for his or her success, the team leader's role is critical. In fact, I've never seen a great school that didn't have a great principal. Certainly, the Great Schools Partnership realizes there are many outstanding principals in Knoxville, but we want to recognize these ten because they have guided their schools to achieve such remarkable academic growth."

Principals Reception 2011

Pictured L to R: KCS Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre; Beth Lackey, Susan Turner, Terry Frost, Julie Thompson, Christy Dowell, Lisa Light, Kevin Huffman, TN Commissioner of Education; Roy Miller, Muncie Harbin, Dr. Joy Foster, and Governor Bill Haslam. Cory Smith, Rocky Hill Principal, was unable to attend due to being called to active duty by his reserve unit.

GSP Board Passes 2011-2012 Budget

The Great Schools Partnership Board passed a $6.16 million budget for 2011 - 2012. The budget covers many continuing programs such as Birth to Kindergarten, PreKindergarten, Teacher Mentoring and Induction, the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), and AVID (a middle school intervention program) Many of these programs will expand through next year's increased funding.

For next year, Great Schools Partnership has strategically partnered with the Knox County School System to fund several new programs. Each of these programs has been carefully evaluated to ensure it will enhance the education of the students it serves:

ELL Summer School - Lonsdale Elementary School has a large non-English speaking student body. To ease the transition into Kindergarten, an intense 4 week pilot program for these "English Language Learners (ELL)" will take place during the summer.
Middle School Intervention/Transition - A mandatory summer program, for rising 9th graders who have been identified as struggling with basic math and reading skills, will take place at several Knox County high schools. This program will ease the transition from middle into high school to help ensure high school success for these students.
Distance Learning Technology - A 3 year grant from ORNL will allow distance learning technology to be installed at Knox County high schools.
First Grade Reading Intervention Program - See article below.

Early Literacy Initiatives

The Great Schools Partnership has worked to raise the reading ability of students in the Knox County School system through several of its initiatives. The Birth to Kindergarten, PreKindergarten and Kindergarten Reading Intervention programs have all worked to increase the number of young students who are reading on grade level. National research indicates that "children who fall behind in first grade have a one in eight chance of ever catching up to grade level without extraordianry efforts" (The 90% Reading Goal, 1998). Since reading is integral for success in all subjects -- including math, science and social studies - continuing to raise the reading ability of elementary students has been a crucial initiative of the Great Schools Partnership.

To further support the literacy efforts already funded by GSP, a 1st grade reading intervention program will be initiated during the 2011-2012. The goal of this program is to increase the literacy skills of the first grade students with the long term goal of having all children reading on grade level by the third grade. This reading intervention program is multi-faceted and includes literacy instructional coaches, continued professional development for elementary school staff, small group instruction and parent engagement.

Partnership brings The Children's Reading Foundation to Knox County

The Children's Reading Foundation will launch its Knox County Chapter with a kickoff on Monday, May 16th. Tennessee First Lady Crissy Haslam will be the keynote speaker at the kickoff which will take place at Burlington Public Library. We hope that all members of the Great Schools Partnership will join us as this early literacy campaign is launched in Knox County!

Great Schools Partnership

912 S. Gay Street, L210

Knoxville, TN 37902

(865) 215-4501

www.GreatSchoolsPartnership.com

Virginia Babb

VP of Membership Development

vbabb@greatschoolspartnership.com

Click HERE to join the Great Schools Partnership